When Gordon Johnston and his wife had trouble getting the fire extinguishers serviced at their Taos bed and breakfast about five years ago, Johnston decided to launch a part-time fire extinguisher business of his own.
That one-time side venture is now the couple’s central enterprise, Alpine Fire Safety Systems Inc. Johnston credits Taos Entrepreneurial Network, or TEN, with the support and connections he needed to pursue the government contracts that have made his business such a success.
TEN is an independent nonprofit organization of entrepreneurs and local community leaders that the McCune Charitable Foundation launched in 2004. TEN is now funded by Northern New Mexico Connect, which coordinates economic development projects for Los Alamos National Security LLC, operator of Los Alamos National Laboratory.
After Johnston made a presentation to TEN’s board of directors, Christopher Madrid — the group’s former facilitator and now a volunteer — informed him of an upcoming seminar on federal contracting. “I had never considered federal contracting but went [to the seminar] with an open and curious mind,” he said. “About three years ago I received my first federal contract with the Veterans Administration in California. That contract will be up for a five-year renewal in January.”

Gov. Susana Martinez announced that the state has launched a new website that will provide new support for parents and educators working to teach students how to read.
The “New Mexico Reads to Lead” website provides information from across the country on the best strategies to help students with literacy. Unique support is available, in English and Spanish, for students at each grade level to provide targeted help for children no matter their current reading skill. In addition, the website will begin to collect proven strategies from New Mexico teachers to share with their colleagues across the state and also highlights community literacy programs which help support local reading efforts.
Parents will have access to a recommended reading list for students at their child’s ability level. In April, Gov. Martinez announced the “New Mexico Reads to Lead” initiative, a direct investment in early childhood education and early childhood reading interventions designed to assist teachers and parents in identifying struggling students and helping them to read at grade level.

SANTA FE, (AP) — New Mexico’s costs of expanding Medicaid under the federal health care overhaul will be offset initially by additional tax revenues because of increased spending on medical services, according to a legislative committee analysis released Thursday.
The Legislative Finance Committee released its staff projections as lawmakers began to consider what will be one of the biggest issues confronting Gov. Susana Martinez and the Legislature next year.
Policymakers must decide whether the state can afford the long-term costs of expanding the eligibility of Medicaid to potentially cover nearly 170,000 low-income New Mexicans by 2020.
About a fourth of the state’s population currently receives medical care through Medicaid, which covers uninsured children, the disabled and the poor. The state and federal government jointly finance Medicaid.
The Human Services Department estimates it will cost the state about $413 million from 2014 through 2020 to expand Medicaid as called for under federal law. An additional $6 billion in federal money should flow into the state to cover those medical services during the same time.

Los Alamos County has launched a new online public comment forum called “Open Forum.” Open Forum will be moderated by Peak Democracy and is another tool as the County continues its efforts to expand ways that citizens can voice their opinions about a variety of topics.
County councilors and county staff will review comments and incorporate them into the decision-making process
“We have heard feedback from our residents that more and more of them are interested in the convenience of online public comment forums as an option to attending public meetings,” County Administrator Harry Burgess said. “Open Forum is being established in response to those suggestions, and has the added benefit over sending the county email comments about a project or issue because you will have the ability to see what others are saying about the topic or issue. That is a new feature we have not previously offered in our public participation process. Making it easier for citizens to participate in the county decision-making process from the privacy and convenience of their own home is important to ensuring that the county’s decisions reflect public opinion.”

Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) has announced that Science Education Solutions of Los Alamos will receive a $2.6 million award from the National Science Foundation.
The organization, which is active in a wide range of programs to help learners of all ages discover and understand the world through science, will use the funding to enhance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education with high school students.
“Educating students in the STEM fields is vital to a stronger economy that depends on innovation and big ideas,” Luján said.
“Our young people need to have the skills and training to compete in a global economy, and this grant will help Science Education Solutions invest in proven methods of enhancing STEM education for our students. Already Science Education Solutions has increased students’ interest in STEM in New Mexico, and these funds will help it expand its important mission.”
The grant, which is estimated to last for five years and provide funding of $2,697,291, will fund a project titled, “Creating a Community of Practice Around a Proven Teen Science Café Model.”

At 8 a.m. Monday, brush and bulk item collection begins for town site residents with Monday or Tuesday trash service. Items placed out late will not be collected. For more information, visit losalamosnm.us/gogreen.

Court closed

The Los Alamos Municipal Court Clerk’s Office will be closed Sept. 26-28 for staff to attend training. Payments due during this period may be mailed to Los Alamos Municipal Court, 2500 Trinity Dr., Ste. C, Los Alamos, N.M. 87544 or some payments may be paid online at citepayusa.com.

Bus stop change

Effective Saturday, the free Atomic City Transit shuttle service to Bandelier National Monument pick up/drop off location is moving from the corner of N.M. 4/Rover Blvd. to the new White Rock Visitor Center Complex, located at 115 N.M. 4.

Quilt market

The Los Alamos Quilt Market will be from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Crossroads Bible Church, 97 East Road. There will also be a silent auction and winners will be announced at 3 p.m. Free admission. For more information, visit losalamos.com/lap/.

County Council

The Los Alamos County Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NASA rover Curiosity has beamed back pictures of bedrock that suggest a fast-moving stream, possibly waist-deep, once flowed on Mars — a find that the mission’s chief scientist called exciting.

There have been previous signs that water existed on the red planet long ago, but the images released Thursday showing pebbles rounded off, likely by water, offered the most convincing evidence so far of an ancient streambed.

There was “a vigorous flow on the surface of Mars,” said chief scientist John Grotzinger of the California Institute of Technology. “We’re really excited about this.”

Scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory developed some of the payload on the Curiosity Rover.

The discovery did not come as a complete surprise. NASA decided to plunk Curiosity down inside Gale Crater near the Martian equator because photos from space suggested the spot possessed a watery past. The six-wheeled rover safely landed Aug. 5 after a nail-biting plunge through the Martian atmosphere.

Present day Mars is a frozen desert with no hint of water on its radiation-scarred surface, but geological studies of rocks by previous missions suggest the planet was warmer and wetter once upon a time.